EasyJet (UK) (easyJet.com) (London-Luton) is expanding itโs route map with the airline confirming via their Twitter account that they are launching a new route connecting Tel Aviv (Ben Gurion) to Paris (Charles de Gaulle Airport), starting on March 30, 2015.
The low-cost airline also confirmed at the same time that it is expanding its London (Gatwick) operations, with the addition of flights to Figari, in Corsica, launching on June 14, 2015.
Report by Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock from Manchester.
Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-111 G-EZDV (msn 3742) arrives at London’s Gatwick Airport (LGW).
Dozens of flights to and from Heathrow airport were delayed or cancelled due to a power outage at air traffic control, European air traffic control authority Eurocontrol said on Friday. London airspace was briefly closed.
Heathrow, which is the UKโs busiest airport, reported earlier: โThere is a power outage at the NATS control center in Swanwick which is affecting UK airspace.โ
โFlights are currently experiencing delays. We will update passengers as soon as we have more information.โ
London Gatwick, Stansted and Luton Airports are accepting arrivals but have suspended departures.
A number of flights were held over the English Channel.
Manchester Airport meanwhile says it is unaffected by the airspace closure and claims it is ready to accept any London bound diverted flights..
London airspace has been effectively closed until 7pm due to a power outage at a control centre.
People travelling have been warned to expect severe delays.
NATs have said: “We can confirm that a technical problem has been reported at Swanwick air traffic control centre. We apologise for any delays and our incident response team has been mobilised. Every possible action is being taken to assist in resolving the situation and to confirm the details. Further information will be released as it becomes available.”
The state-of-the art centre at Swanwick has been subject to a number of computer glitches since Nats moved there from its old headquarters in West Drayton in west London in the early part of the last decade.
One of the worst problems was a year ago – on Saturday December 7 2013 – when thousands of passengers were left stranded when hundreds of flights were grounded following a technical fault at the Hampshire centre.
Read the analysis by Bloomberg Businessweek: CLICK HERE
Report by Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock from Manchester.
Top Copyright Photo: Keith Burton/AirlinersGallery.com. An aerial photo of London Heathrow Airport.
Bottom Image: SPA. A rare radar image – no flights airborne over the London area during the ground stop.
Monarch Airlines (London-Luton) as planned retired its last three Boeing 757-200s (G-DAJB, G-MONJ and G-MONK) this past week with the end of the summer season schedule.
The last flight was operated with G-MONK on a return charter flight from London (Gatwick) to
Krakow on November 12 as flights MON 9064 and MON 9065 returning late in the evening. G-MONK wasย then ferried from Gatwick Airport to Birmingham (BHX) for the end of lease checks.
All three of the Boeing 757s are currently at BHX awaiting their fate.
The airline is now all-Airbus ironically until those aircraft are replaced with new Boeing 737 MAX 8s.
Monarch has published this nice salute the venerable type on its Monarch blog:
Monarch has bid a sad but fond farewell to its Boeing 757s this month after years of tremendous service within the fleet. The Boeing 757 had a very interesting life within the fleet, due to itโs phenomenal flexibility and wide range and payload capabilities. It has served with Monarch all over the world and has probably seen more corners of the globe than our Airbus A300 or A330 wide body aircraft.
As word got out in the press and via social media that Monarchโs Boeing 757s were retiring, we received lots of interesting questions about the aircraft from you. In response, weโd like to share some of the beloved aircraftโs wonderful history and key stats with you. Weโve turned to passionate Boeing 757 enthusiast Toby Hiller, Monarchโs Senior Economic Planning Analyst, for his expertise.
Can you tell us a bit more about the history of the Boeing 757 fleet?
Between November 1993 and November 2014, Monarchโs Boeing 757 fleet operated planned flights to 439 airports in 128 countries and territories worldwide, including glamorous destinations such as New York, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, Bangkok, Tokyo, Singapore and Sydney! The furthest airport from Luton that the aircraft served was Auckland, New Zealand.
How many passenger seats/capacity does a Boeing 757 have?
With extra legroom seats the aircraft has 229 seats; without the extra legroom seats it has 235 seats. Interestingly, if the capacity is set up in a VIP โCaptainโs Choiceโ configuration (which we operated on special charter flights – see below) then there is 92 business class seats and 12 economy seats.
Is there a fixed amount of staff needed for a Boeing 757?
The amount of crew needed for a Boeing 757 flight is subject to the length of the flight. A standard Monarch ZB short haul flight has 2 pilots (a captain and first officer) and 6 cabin crew serving our customers but this could change to 3 pilots and 8 cabin crew on long-range flights. It is interesting to know that VIP flights are subject to charterer requirements and on VIP flights an engineer would also travel.
How many toilets does a Monarch Boeing 757 have?
There are 2 toilets located at the front of the aircraft, 2 more at โdoor 3โ which is further down the plane, so there are 4 in total.
How many galleys are there?
There are 2. There is a galley at the front of the aircraft and 1 at the rear. On VIP flights, a chefโs station could also be added to prepare fresh meals for customers.
What is the maximum take-off weight of the Boeing 757 aircraft?
Maximum take-off weight (MTOW): 113,398 kg
Top Copyright Photo: Antony J. Best/AirlinersGallery.com (all others by Monarch). One of the most colorful liveries worn by a Monarch 757 is the pictured Boeing 757-2T7 G-MONJ (msn 24104) that wore the the second version of the special “Hedkandi” color scheme.
EasyJet (easyJet.com) (UK) (London-Luton) has announced its plans for four new routes from Bristol to Lanzarote, Catania, Porto and Gibraltar from Summer 2015.
The new destinations follow easyJetโs five year agreement with Bristol Airport last winter to continue growth at the airport, and will result in an extra aircraft being located at the base. There will now be up to 12 easyJet aircraft based at the airport from Summer 2015.
In total, EasyJet now flies to 50 destinations from Bristol โ more than any other airline from the airport.
Bristol to Lanzarote is a year round service, flying twice a week from April 18, 2015.
Bristol to Catania is a summer service, flying twice a week from May 14, 2015.
Bristol to Porto is a year round service, flying three times per week from April 19,2015.
Bristol to Gibraltar will be Bristolโs only direct scheduled flight service to Gibraltar. It is a year round service, flying three times per week from April 19, 2015.
According to Airline Route, the low-fare carrier will also add the following routes next summer:
London Gatwick โ Stuttgart 12 weekly, starting on March 29, 2015
Lyon โ Krakow 3 weekly, March 29
Toulouse โ Seville 3 weekly, March 29
Nantes โ Porto 4 weekly, March 30
Naples โ Athens 3 weekly, March 30
London Gatwick โ Brindisi 2 weekly, April 1
Toulouse โ Agadir 2 weekly, April 1
Milan Malpensa โ Stuttgart 6 weekly, April 24
London Luton โ Antalya 2 weekly, April 25
London Luton โ Porto 3 weekly, April 26
London Luton โ Essaouria, May 1
London Luton โ Bodrum 2 weekly, May 17
Belfast City โ Split 1 weekly, May 20
Manchester โ Porto 3 weekly, June 16
Manchester โ Marseille 2 weekly, June 17
Manchester โ Pisa 2 weekly, June 17
Naples โ Olbia 4 weekly, June 28
Glasgow โ Bordeaux 2 weekly, June 29
Toulouse โ Palma de Mallorca 2 weekly, July 3
Paris Orly โ Split 2 weekly, July 5
Copyright Photo: Antony J. Best/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-214 G-EZWP (msn 5927) with Sharklets arrives back at London (Gatwick).
WOW Air (Keflavik) as planned, is coming to Boston in March 2015 with fares starting at $99 one-way. Kleflavik International Airport-Boston Logan International Airport will start on March 27 and operate six days a week with Airbus A321s.
WOW Air will also operate seasonal service between Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport (BWI) and Keflavik International Airport with four weekly roundtrip flights starting on June 4, 2015.
For the service from BWI, WOW Air will also utilize Airbus A321 aircraft. The seasonal flights will operate four times per week, on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Top Copyright Photo: Keith Burton/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-232 TF-WOW (msn 2457) arrives at London (Gatwick).
Gambia Bird Airlines (Banjul) has been unable to resume flights to London (Gatwick) according to Proactive Investors. The west African airline had been planning to resume operations to London on October 17. The UK government through the Department of Transport did not renew its permit to operate to the UK due to the on-going Ebola crisis. The airline has been hit hard by the outbreak.
Previously Gambia Bird had extended the suspension of all flights to and from Monrovia, in Liberia, and to and from Freetown, in Sierra Leone, until September 28. 2014, due to the current public health situation in both countries.
Norwegian Air Shuttle (Norwegian.com) (Oslo) currently operates its Boeing 787s to the United States under its Norwegian Long Haul division (Oslo). The company would like to move the operation to Ireland as Norwegian Air International where the aircraft are registered. The European Union (EU) through its European Commission has request an “urgent” meeting with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) about the pending application. Several union groups have opposed the application. The EC issued this statement:
In an unprecedented move, the European Commission requested an urgent meeting between the European Union and the United States to discuss Norwegian Air International’s pending application for a foreign air carrier permit before the U.S. Department of Transportation. The extraordinary meeting, which is being requested by the Commission on behalf of the European Union as a party to the U.S-EU Open Skies Agreement, sends a clear message that the European Union is closely watching Norwegian Air International’s application, to fly to the U.S from several cities in Europe which has been pending for over eight months.
Norwegian Air International welcomes the European Union’s action to protect the rights of European airlines under the U.S.-EU Open Skies Agreement, which obligates parties to grant operating authority “with minimum procedural delay.” Asgeir Nyseth, CEO of Norwegian Air International, said, “We are confident that the Department of Transportation will do the right thing and grant our application without further delay.”
Norwegian Air International’s application has taken nearly four times as long as applications of other European carriers applying for the same authority. “We look forward to bringing new competitive and affordable fares on new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft to the U.S.-Europe market,” said Nyseth. With over 300 U.S. based crew, and plans for a pilot base in New York, Norwegian’s new service will bolster the U.S. economy through increased tourism, jobs, and support of the nation’s largest exporter, Boeing.
Copyright Photo: Robbie Shaw/AirlinersGallery.com. Norwegian Long Haul’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner EI-LND (msn 35310) with Norwegian Marthoner Grete Waitz on the tail holds shot of the runway at London’s Gatwick Airport. The flight was headed to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) will launch daily nonstop service between Manchester International Airport and New York John F. Kennedy International Airport from June 2, 2015 as it increases its network between the U.K. and North America. The airline will also begin flying its first nonstop service between London-Heathrow and Newark Liberty International Airport effective March 29, 2015. Both routes will be operated in conjunction with joint venture partner Virgin Atlantic Airways (London).
Deltaโs new Newark operation is part of a network update by Virgin Atlantic where Delta will operate one of Virginโs two Newark services while Virgin Atlantic will start its first daily nonstop Manchester to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport service.
Delta has operated services from Manchester since June 1991 when its maiden flight departed from Atlanta. Virgin Atlantic, meanwhile, has served the market since 1996 and also operates services to Orlando and Las Vegas from Manchester.
The updated joint venture network from London-Heathrow brings the daily number of services to the New York area to 10. Eight of these flights will operate to JFK and two to Newark.
Additionally Delta will launch a new Los Angeles-San Antonio, Texas route in April 2015. This new route will be operated by Compass Airlines.
In other news, Delta Air Lines employees from across the country will build or renovate affordable single family homes with Habitat for Humanity. This year’s fall builds will take place in six cities, including Delta’s hubs in Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York City and Seattle as well as in Los Angeles, a key international gateway for the airline. More than 2,300 Delta employees will participate in the projects, which began on September 8 and continue through October 17.
During the two-and-a-half-month long project, Delta will celebrate its 200th build with Habitat for Humanity. This milestone will be commemorated with the Seattle build, which will be partially funded through proceeds from Delta’s in-flight recycling program. This is the sixth home Delta has funded by recycling aluminum cans, plastic bottles and other materials from flights. More than 1 million pounds of material were recycled in 2013, and more than 8.5 million pounds have been recycled since the start of the program in 2007.
Through local and national support, Delta employees have helped build or rehab 199 Habitat homes in 11 countries around the world. Habitat is one of Delta’s core community partners in its Force for Global Good, a program that encourages employees to make a difference in the communities where they live, work and serve.
Copyright Photo: Antony J. Best/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 767-332 ER N171DZ (msn 29690) in the special “Habitat for Humanity – Force for Global Good” livery, departs from London’s Gatwick Airport in the past.
Philippines-Philippine Airlines (Manila) today (September 1) operated its last Boeing 747 revenue flight. The last flight with a Boeing 747-400 touched down from San Francisco early this morning at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, ending an era that has spanned 35 years according to Philippine Flight Network.
The Boeing 747 entered service with Philippine Airlines in December 1979, when the carrier took delivery of its first Boeing 747-200B. PAL added its first Boeing 747-400 inย November 1993.
Boeing 747-4F6ย RP-C7473 (msn 27828) operated the last flight. RP-C7473ย departed San Francisco on August 31 for the last time with 285 passengers on board according to PFN.
Read the full story with photos from Philippine Flight Network: CLICK HERE
Top Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Sister ship Boeing 747-4F6 RP-C8168 (msn 27827) was a familiar sight at Los Angeles International Airport.
Philippines-Philippine Airlines:
Bottom Copyright Photo: SM Fitzwilliams Collection/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Boeing 747-2F6B N741PR (msn 21832) holds short of the runway at London’s Gatwick Airport.
You must be logged in to post a comment.